Military helicopter
Military helicopters are helicopters that are used in military aviation . They differ from civilian models in terms of their equipment or their special construction, and they often have on- board weapons , armor and special avionics . They can be used in all branches of the armed forces , in some armed forces also in the marine infantry .
Military models
- Combat helicopters are designed for ground combat, for example for infantry support , anti-tank defense or artillery observation . Individual models, e.g. B. the Franco-German Eurocopter Tiger , wear u. U. also air-to-air missiles for air combat .
- Transport helicopters are suitable for both cargo and troop transport.
- Multipurpose helicopters are suitable for troop transport, but can also be used for armed infantry support due to external loads. Further areas of application are electronic warfare through interference from enemy radio signals or VIP transports.
- Support helicopter - a term commonly used in Germany, e.g. B. The Tiger is referred to as the Tiger Support Helicopter (UHT) .
- Medical helicopter and SAR service (search and rescue)
- Reconnaissance helicopter
Models currently used worldwide are:
Attack helicopter
- Agusta A129 Mangusta
- Bell AH-1 Cobra / Supercobra
- Hughes AH-64 Apache
- Denel AH-2 Rooivalk
- Wuzhuang Zhisheng WZ-10
- Eurocopter Tiger
- Kamow Ka-50 Chornaya Akula
- Mil Wed-24
- Mil Wed-28
US attack helicopter AH-1W Super Cobra
Gun bearer on the Eurocopter Tiger (Army Aviation)
Indian HAL Dhruv with cannon
Naval helicopter with torpedo
Russian Kamov Ka-50
Transport helicopter
- Boeing-Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight (tandem configuration)
- Aérospatiale AS 332 Super Puma
AS 332 Super Puma
Multipurpose helicopter
- Bristol 192 Belvedere
- Aérospatiale SA 341/342 Gazelle
- Bell OH-58 Kiowa
- Bell UH-1 Iroquois ("Huey")
- Sikorsky S-61 / H3 Sea King
- Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma
- Aérospatiale AS 332 Cougar
- Eurocopter AS 565 Panther
- Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
- Boeing CH-47 Chinook
- NHIndustries NH90
SH-3G Sikorsky S-61
Sikorsky R-4 from 1944
Bristol 192 with two main rotors from 1961
Mil Mi-8 S
Mission history
Second World War
In World War II military helicopters were used for the first time. In Germany, the two developers Henrich Focke and Gerd Achgelis designed a functional helicopter with a load capacity of 700 kg. They received an order for 100 pieces, but by the end of the war only 20 had been completed and just under 10 had even flown.
Anton Flettner's development worked significantly better . He developed a helicopter with two rotors that lay side by side and meshed together - the Flettner double rotor . From this principle, the types Fl 265 and 282, a reconnaissance helicopter, which was called "Kolibri", but was also only used and manufactured to a small extent. The building principle was continued by Fletter after the war. Helicopters of the German Air Force in World War II were:
On the American side, a helicopter appeared in combat for the first time in 1944, the Sikorsky R-4 .
Vietnam War
In the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975, military helicopters first formed a fundamental element of war tactics. They were used on the American side to support the ground forces , as this was the only way soldiers could be dropped off and picked up in the confusing jungle areas or behind enemy lines.
The main patterns in the Vietnam War were:
- Bell UH-1
- Boeing-Vertol CH-47 Chinook
- Bell AH-1 Cobra
Afghan war
In the Afghan war between 1979 and 1989, helicopters were often used on the Soviet side to transport troops, to supply outposts and to fight the opposing mujahedin in rough terrain. Mainly Mi-8 multi-purpose helicopters were used for this, and later mainly attack helicopters of the Mi-24 type were used for combat tasks.
From 1985 onwards, the USA supplied the insurgents with targeted FIM-92 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which caused considerable problems on the Soviet side - a total of 333 helicopter losses were counted up to the withdrawal.
Gulf Wars and Iraq War
In the First and Second Gulf War and the Iraq War Military helicopters were also on the parties to the conflict used in the second, lost US forces 15 helicopters, at least 33. Most went but without external influence lost in the Iraq war until 2006, since you here through sandstorms with problems had the drive.
On the American side, the Sikorsky UH-60 (transport helicopter) and Hughes AH-64 (attack helicopter) were used, while the United States Marine Corps also used the Bell AH-1 , as well as the older Bell UH-1 .
The bombardment from the cover of the cities by heavy machine guns and shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missiles of the type 9K32 Strela-2 and related models is increasingly affecting the helicopters; In early 2007 it was reported that Iraqi fighters used targeted tactics to first shoot down the helicopters and then attack the rescue workers.
Manufacturer
Important manufacturers are the European Eurocopter Group , the American Bell and Sikorsky and the Russian Mil and Kamow .
literature
- Francis Crosby: The world encyclopedia of military helicopters , ISBN 978-0-7548-2386-5
- Francis Crosby: An illustrated A – Z directory of military helicopters , ISBN 978-1-78019-371-7
- Bill Gunston and Mike Spick: Modern Military Helicopters . Stuttgart, Motorbuch Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-613-30155-5 .
In the media
The movie Black Hawk Down from 2001 staged the shooting down of a Sikorsky UH-60 and the attempted rescue of the crew in the Battle of Mogadishu on October 3, 1993 in Somalia in lavish scenes . Director was Ridley Scott , the film received two Academy Awards.
Military helicopters continue to play a central role in a number of ( flight simulation ) computer games , for example in the Comanche series.
See also
Web links
- Data on helicopter armament in the Vietnam War
- Kollmann, Alexander: "Combat Helicopter - Use and Possibilities" , in: Troop Service , Volume 293, Issue 5/2006
Individual evidence
- ^ Kuperman, Alan (Summer 1999). The Stinger Missile and US Intervention in Afghanistan . Political Science Quarterly: 219-263.
- ^ Viktor Markowskij: Hot skies over Afghanistan. Elbe-Dnjepr, Klitzschen 2006, ISBN 3-933395-89-5 , p. 128.